Zhihu Completes Homecoming IPO in Hong Kong
Zhihu, the largest online Q&A community in China, was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) on Friday, becoming the first Chinese internet company to return to Hong Kong by means of a dual primary listing.
The firm’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, as well as other core management team members, appeared at an online ceremony following the listing.
Zhou Yuan said during the event: “Today, with the joy of going home, we returned to Hong Kong for listing, which is another important milestone for Zhihu. It builds a more stable platform for our future development. Standing on a new starting line, we will be more emboldened to enrich content and gain recognition from more friends.”
Zhihu‘s listing on the HKEx is a dual primary listing, with the issue price set at HK$32.06 ($4.09) per share. A total of 26 million Class A ordinary shares of the company from early investors will be sold, and the selling shareholders will receive nearly HK$800 million in net proceeds from the global offering.
According to the latest financial report released by Zhihu on March 14, the firm’s total annual revenue in 2021 reached 2.959 billion yuan ($455.8 million), a year-on-year increase of 118.9%. Among them, the revenue in Q4 was 1.019 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 96.1%. Moreover, the firm’s content-centered non-advertising business accounted for 61%. As of December 31, 2021, the company held a total of 7.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
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On the same day, Zhihu responded to being added to the “pre-delisting” list by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), saying that the company had completed its dual primary listing in Hong Kong, and would pay close attention to the progress in the follow-up, which so far has had a limited impact on the company. On April 21, the SEC added 17 China concepts stock companies, including Li Auto, Zhihu and KE Holdings, to the “pre-delisting” list.
Founded in 2010, Zhihu has developed into the largest online Q&A community in China, and it is also an original content platform where creators gather, thus building an open and healthy community ecology. On March 26, 2021, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
